Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8945 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2003-12-05
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review
Many people scoff whenever the suggestion is made that video games can be scary, but Ghosthunter proves once and for all that games are the new medium of choice for entertainment with added goose bumps. The game casts you as rookie cop Lazarus Jones, who accidentally sets loose a horde of evil trapped spirits (as you do) and has to take on the job of recapturing them and saving his partner.

The obvious problem is that ghosts are incorporeal by nature and it takes one of the insubstantial blighters being fused to Lazarus before he can really take them on. At this point he gains not just the ability to see the evil dead, but also shoot them with his gun and capture them in a special ghost trap/grenade. When in "weapon mode" the game has a rather nice dual control system that allows you to move and fire in another direction at the same time (as long as the rather unhelpful camera system isn't getting in the way)--but thankfully this is more than just another mindless shoot-'em-up. Most of the important ghosts are actually rather difficult to attack directly and you must solve various puzzles, such as getting them to come out of a possessed TV or tricking them into turning on the power in a dilapidated building, before you can start blasting. Like the same team's Primal this is not going to appeal to adrenaline junkies, but for most others this offers a fairly intelligent and atmospheric adventure in ghostbusting. --David Jenkins

Manufacturer's Description
Inspired by the cinematic styling of classic horror films, Ghosthunter combines high production values with solid gameplay, drawing players into a macabre, supernatural universe packed with stealth, exploration and all-out action. The game follows the adventures of Lazarus Jones, a Detroit cop turned supernatural demon hunter. During a routine patrol through a derelict High School, once the site of a brutal but unexplained massacre, Lazarus and his partner, Anna Steele, stumble across the ghost research laboratory of Professor Peter Richmond. Inadvertently, they release a host of deadly spirits and supernatural monsters who begin to wreak havoc around the world. One of the ghosts abducts Steele and another fuses with Lazarus gifting him with second sight, allowing him to see into the realm of the dead. It is here that his true journey begins. Lazarus travels the haunted world hunting and capturing ghosts while searching for Steele, Richmond and the creature behind the original High School murders.

Customer Reviews

Who ya gonna call ghostbusters!! oh sorry wrong franchise...
First things first this game has absolutely nothing to do with ghost busters so get that idea out of your head right now. This is much darker and a lot and i mean a lot more evil.
You take on the role of a Brad Pitt look a like called Lazarus Jones, a cop who becomes a ghost hunter after he is recruited by a strange computer in a desolate mansion. Your adventure then starts as you battle your way through various locations capturing and killing all types of nasty monsters.

The main part of this game is the adventuring. You venture through various loactions while doing battle with a variety of creatures. The controls are great as you swap between run and gun modes at the touch of a button. In combat you first wear down an enemy with special bullets that bring the creature into the human world before you throw your speacial ghost grenade to capture them. This works well as there are a variety of weapons and each creature requires a different tactic to defeat but it isn't helped by a shoddy camera(in gun mode, run modes is fine) which often leaves you looking at the wrong thing. This probelm is only a minor one though as once you've played for a while you can avoid it pretty well just by knowing how the game works.
The controls are responsive and easy to use which adds to the whole experience as quick reflexes are required to battle some of the faster moving ghosts. The controls of Ghosthunter really put the developers last game, Primal, to shame as in my opinion its controls left a lot to be desired.
The graphics are also some of the best on the PS2 and even compare to some of the graphics you see on xbox. The creatures also look fantastic and the levels are extremely atmospheric and help add to the suspense of the game.
My favourite point to the game though has to be diversity in enemies. Ranging from evil teddy bears that swing demonic little girls round their heads to chainsaw swingin rednecks with crocodile hats. They are all fantastically animated and some of them are truly terrifying. I would even go as far to say that they are better than the creatures in any other game like this and that includes all of the Resident Evils.
Don't make the mistake of thinking this is a survival horror though as it is much more like a shoot em up with a concentration on shooting rather than finding loads of things and solving contrived puzzles.
All in all this game is superb. There are many things i haven't gone into such as being able to play as Astral,a ghost, or some references to the developers previous games(fans of the Meideval games look out for a descendant of the series bumbling hero).
So in conclusion fans of shoot em ups, survial horrors, all things ghostly, games in general and thriller films will enjoy this game and i urge you to give it a try, you won't regret it and you will enjoy it. It is so suspense filled, action filled and as such movie like that there is no way you won't become enthralled with it and love every single second of it.

A great Game!!!
Just completed Ghosthunter and enjoyed it enough to be inspired to write a review. Ok so first impressions of Ghosthunter:

1) Nice Introduction movie, with a likeable main character from the start.

2) Nice, ambient and atmospheric music

3) What seems to be the start of a great storyline

So all was good until the first enemy popped up. Now I had read a few previous reviews which said the combat system was tricky. Well..yes it is. From the beginning I found it hard to co ordinate my movement and camera on the two analog sticks and aiming and firing was even tougher. Quite hit and miss.

However as I played a bit more I found it got easier and by the Ghost ship level I was thoroughly enjoying using the wall hug feature to pop out from behind crates to have a proper trench warfare battle with the British Ghost soldiers. The ghost ship level is by far my favourite level just because of the great character, Major Fortesque and the strategic combat.

Lazarus is great character with a wicked attitude which provides the occasional comic moment. Also Major Fortesque is another fave character and features in some comical cutscenes.

Another great feature is your ability to summon a spirit who has fused with Lazarus called Astral. The puzzles to be solved at these bits can be somewhat annoying but I just love the whole swimming through the air movement that you get when controlling her.

The use of the spectral goggles I felt was a little strange. Why create a first person mode with the ghost detecting goggles if you cannot move whilst in first person? This I found frustrating but I soon learnt to live with it. Soon I was quite enjoying the moving forward a little way and then stopping to switch to first person and do a quick ghost sweep with the goggles before moving on.

The one other part I felt was a little limited was with the control of the cyborg toward the end. A great and clever twist, but the only way to aim with the him is to switch to first person, which means no move and aim at the same time. Thankfully this part is short and you should get through it.

This game is no silent hill, with disturbingly scary scenes and jump-out-of-your-seat moments. The school is pretty eerie at the start but if your looking for a new super scarer then either wait for Silent Hill 3 or buy Whiteday.

So to sum up - a great game with an amazing storyline, fun characters and cutscenes, a few eerie bits (especially with surround sound and a great soundtrack.

Now all I want to know is when GH2 will be out because you never do find out what happens to Astral.

Tough and impressive.
Due to some adverse publicity, I was preparing myself for Ghosthunter to be a disappointment, but after playing it, I would have to say that it is most definitely not. First of all, the game looks amazing. Having played a demo of the haunted school, I was already impressed, but things simply get better and better, as you progress through a swampland complete with a sinking ghost town, a haunted mansion with warping rooms, and a huge ship. The levels are massive, and with no loading times between areas, you seem to be roaming for miles at a time. Often, I was happy to stop and just look around at the stunning scenery like a tourist. Each level has been meticulously created by the game designers, and it really pays off. The game itself is a reworking of a standard theme: your character is an ordinary police officer who finds himself somehow appointed a ghost-hunter who has to travel through several locations and dimensions, fighting and capturing ghostly creatures. It’s when you actually come to playing the game that some flaws become apparent. First of all the combat system can be incredibly frustrating. Lazarus can run around and explore areas very easily, but to fight and capture ghosts, you have to switch to aiming mode, in which his run suddenly slows to a hesitant crawl, so aiming at ghosts which are capable of flying all over the screen becomes a real chore. There’s also a first person view for more accuracy, but in this you can’t move at all, so you are nearly always open to taking damage as you aim at the rampaging spooks. The camera controls are similarly annoying, as although you can re-configure the camera movement to “reverse” for movement mode (by which I mean that moving the stick to the right swings the camera left, like swivelling a telescope on a pivot – my favourite), you are unable to do the same in battle mode, so unless you want wild confusion as your brain tries to juggle the two concepts at once, you are really only limited to one. This, along with the afore mentioned slowness of Lazarus in aiming mode, and the amount of weapon swapping that you will be doing during every fight, makes the battles pretty difficult, and I spent the whole first (short) level despairing and toying with getting a quick refund. However, things hotted up as soon as the action moved to the swamp, when you are able to use a sniper rifle and a shotgun. The action suddenly gets a dose of Splinter Cell type stealth, which added plenty of enjoyment for me. Further variety is added by an additional spectral character that you can play as at certain points when puzzles appear that Lazarus cannot otherwise solve.
In conclusion I would say that Ghost Hunter is a tough challenge, with plenty of puzzles to solve and a shortage of ammo and health pick ups. But not least of all, it is because you are hampered by a cumbersome method of combat, which means that any situation in which you face two or more enemies at once can be a nightmare. But keep trying and you will find that the designers have actually allowed for this by giving each situation a knack to discover such as a hiding place or a vantage point that can be found with a bit of perseverance, so by the midway point, I would guess that any player would be thoroughly addicted. Personally, once I was used to the mechanics of the game, I didn’t want it to end, so I recommend it as a definite purchase.